Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Wireshark VS NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

Compare Wireshark VS NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and see what are their differences

Wireshark logo Wireshark

Wireshark is a network protocol analyzer for Unix and Windows. It lets you capture and interactively browse the traffic running on a computer network.

NetFlow Traffic Analyzer logo NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

SolarWinds' NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is a powerful tool for monitoring your network's bandwidth utilization.
  • Wireshark Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-11
  • NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-18

Wireshark features and specs

  • Comprehensive Protocol Support
    Wireshark supports a vast number of protocols out of the box, allowing for detailed inspection and analysis of network traffic.
  • Free and Open-Source
    Wireshark is free to use and its source code is openly available, enabling customization and community-driven improvements.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Wireshark runs on various operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it accessible to a wide audience.
  • Rich Feature Set
    It offers features like live capture, offline analysis, deep inspection of hundreds of protocols, and powerful display filters for granular traffic analysis.
  • Strong Community Support
    A large and active community provides extensive documentation, tutorials, and support forums, making it easier for users to troubleshoot and learn.

Possible disadvantages of Wireshark

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive feature set and technical nature, Wireshark can be challenging for beginners to master.
  • Resource Intensive
    Live traffic capture and analysis can consume considerable system resources, which may affect performance, especially on less powerful machines.
  • Security Risks
    Running packet capture tools like Wireshark on production systems carries inherent security risks, as it could potentially expose sensitive data.
  • Interface Complexity
    The user interface, while powerful, can be overwhelming and non-intuitive for new users, making navigation and finding specific features difficult.
  • Limited Support for Encrypted Traffic
    Wireshark has limited capabilities when it comes to analyzing encrypted traffic, as decryption support requires additional setup and access to encryption keys.

NetFlow Traffic Analyzer features and specs

  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    NetFlow Traffic Analyzer provides detailed visibility into network traffic patterns and bandwidth usage, allowing for comprehensive monitoring of network performance.
  • Real-Time Network Insights
    It offers real-time insights into traffic sources and destinations, enabling organizations to quickly identify and address network issues.
  • Customizable Dashboards
    Users can create customizable dashboards and reports, providing flexibility in how data is visualized and analyzed.
  • Scalability
    The tool is scalable to monitor small to large enterprise networks, making it suitable for organizations of various sizes.
  • Integration Capabilities
    NetFlow Traffic Analyzer can integrate with other SolarWinds products, facilitating a unified network management solution.

Possible disadvantages of NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

  • Complex Setup
    Initial setup and configuration can be complex, especially for users not familiar with network monitoring tools.
  • Resource Intensive
    The tool can be resource-intensive, potentially requiring significant hardware and computing resources for optimal performance.
  • Learning Curve
    Some users may experience a learning curve due to the advanced features and functionalities offered by the tool.
  • Cost
    The cost of licensing and maintenance can be high, potentially limiting accessibility for smaller organizations or those with budget constraints.
  • Limited Non-NetFlow Support
    The tool primarily focuses on NetFlow data, so it may offer limited support for network protocols and data sources not related to NetFlow.

Analysis of Wireshark

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Wireshark is considered an excellent tool for network analysis. Its open-source nature, regular updates, and strong community support further enhance its reputation as a reliable and robust tool.

Why this product is good

  • Wireshark is widely regarded as a leading network protocol analyzer due to its comprehensive features, user-friendly interface, and extensive protocol support. It allows users to capture and examine data packets in real-time, making it invaluable for diagnosing network issues, performing security audits, and educational purposes.

Recommended for

  • Network administrators looking to troubleshoot connectivity issues.
  • Security professionals conducting penetration tests and analyzing network traffic for vulnerabilities.
  • Students and educators who need a practical tool to learn about network protocols and behaviors.
  • IT professionals managing complex networks who require detailed traffic analysis.

Wireshark videos

Wireshark Tutorial for Beginners

More videos:

  • Review - Monitor Network Traffic with Wireshark - Review
  • Review - Wireshark 101: CloudShark Review - HakTip 144

NetFlow Traffic Analyzer videos

NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Overview

More videos:

  • Review - Solarwinds | NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Complete installation

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Wireshark and NetFlow Traffic Analyzer)
Monitoring Tools
87 87%
13% 13
Log Management
89 89%
11% 11
Performance Monitoring
81 81%
19% 19
Security
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Wireshark and NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

Wireshark Reviews

9 Best Angry IP Scanner Alternatives Reviewed 2021 (Free & Paid)
The beauty in Wireshark is that your network scans can be as broad or as granular as you make them. With a few clicks, you can begin capturing a snapshot of all packet traffic across your local area network. It can be overwhelming at first to see every single packet across a network, but Wireshark makes isolating specific events simple with its color coding and filtering...
10 Best WireShark Alternatives for Android Devices in 2021
If you are well enough into network communication, you must know about WireShark. WireShark is the most popular network analyzer for PC. You can use WireShark to see anything on your network that’s not encrypted. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an Android app, however, you can still track, monitor, or capture network packets on your Android devices using our best list of...
Source: techreen.com
11 Best Wireshark Alternatives in 2020
Wireshark is a widely used network monitoring and WiFi troubleshooting tool. However, with Wireshark tool is that you can only gather information from the network but cannot send this information.
Source: www.guru99.com
5 Best Wireshark alternative packet sniffers
Wireshark & Alternative tools FAQs ⭐Can Wireshark do deep packet inspection or do I need something else?⭐Is Wireshark a vulnerability scanner?⭐Is Wireshark good at port scanning?⭐Which tool is a command line alternative to Wireshark?
Comparing Charles Proxy, Fiddler, Wireshark, and Requestly
Although thousands of developers around the globe use Wireshark and Charles Proxy, they fail to occupy the top side in the design aspect. Wireshark’s interface is robust and detailed but can be intimidating for beginners. While Charles Proxy has a more approachable interface compared to Wireshark, it might seem cluttered to some users. Fiddler’s UI is information-rich and...
Source: dev.to

NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Reviews

We have no reviews of NetFlow Traffic Analyzer yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Wireshark should be more popular than NetFlow Traffic Analyzer. It has been mentiond 11 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Wireshark mentions (11)

  • Wifi problematic, wired connections seem okay. Help?
    Https://wireshark.org, opening that, go to edit preferences and enable "IP network" in the name resolution area, to show website names instead of only IP addresses. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Eeros in bridge mode with wired home
    To prove this, download wireshark Https://wireshark.org/. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Lose internet when downloading large files
    Give that a try and I'll re-recommend for a second time, to run and watch Wireshark: Https://wireshark.org. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Performance scores for Google Lighthouse/Insights seem to be very inaccurate
    Https://www.gap.com/ returned a performance score of 10/100, with a time to interactive score of 36.1 seconds! Https://www.patreon.com/ returned a score of 18 Https://wireshark.org/ returned a score of 28, with "unused javascript" taking 14.9 seconds to load. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Is there a way to programatically turn off Downtime on a child device?
    I tried using Wireshark to figure out which URL is being called but my knowledge here is VERY limited and I couldn’t figure it out. Source: about 3 years ago
View more

NetFlow Traffic Analyzer mentions (2)

  • How do you like to be sold to?
    I just blocked solarwinds.com as even after I emailed them 3 times to say your are SPAMing me, do not send me an email again they did so. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • N-able Community Update
    I think Reddit auto corrected it's just we won't auto forward @ solarwinds.com to @ n-able.com is what was meant. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Wireshark and NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, you can also consider the following products

Zabbix - Track, record, alert and visualize performance and availability of IT resources

Paessler PRTG - An advanced network monitoring solution to monitor network up/downtime, traffic and usage.

Datadog - See metrics from all of your apps, tools & services in one place with Datadog's cloud monitoring as a service solution. Try it for free.

SolarWinds NPM - Advanced network monitoring for on-premises, hybrid, and cloud. Download a FREE 30-day trial of SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) today!

Spiceworks - Spiceworks bundles network monitoring, helpdesk, UPS power management, PC inventory tools, an online community, and much more for free

Microsoft System Center - Microsoft System Center provides solutions to simplify the deployment, configuration, management, and monitoring of the infrastructure.